Portable telephones may conveniently be divided into three categories: car or mobile telephones, bag or transportable telephones, and hand-held portables.
Car or mobile telephones, commonly known as cellular car telephones, typically comprise a handset connected via a cord to electronics mounted within the car. The electronic hardware necessary for telecommunications is permanently disposed within the car such that the mobile telephone is not generally removed from the car.
Bag telephones or transportables typically comprise a handset connected via a cord to a bag or brief case-like container which houses batteries and the electronics necessary for telecommunications. Such bag telephones may thus be easily transported by hand and need not remain within the vehicle.
Completely self-contained hand-held portable telephones are rapidly gaining popularity as their cost decreases. Contemporary hand-held portable telephones which easily fit within a shirt pocket provide the ultimate in flexibility and convenience. Such hand-held portable telephones may be carried anywhere without inconvenience.
Although hand-held portable telephones are lightweight and easy to carry, they do present a particular problem when used in automobiles. Unlike their predecessors, the original mobile telephones, hand-held portable telephones lack any means for being mounted or secured at a convenient location. As such, it is not uncommon for hand-held portable telephones to simply be laid upon the seat or dashboard proximate the user. Since they are not secured in place, such hand-held portable telephones are subject to being tossed about as the vehicle turns, brakes, and accelerates. Thus, contemporary hand-held portable telephones are commonly subjected to mechanical abuse which may result in damage thereto. It would be desirable to provide a means for securing such hand-held portable telephones at a convenient location whereby the user may maintain convenient access thereto. Such means for securing the hand-held portable telephone would prevent it from being tossed about by the motions of the vehicle and potentially damaged thereby.
Devices for mounting mobile telephone handsets, i.e. those connected via a cord to telecommunications electronics permanently disposed within the car, are well known. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,174 issued to Sheppard et al. on Jun. 27, 1989 and entitled FLEXIBLE MOUNT FOR MOBILE APPARATUS, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The Sheppard device utilizes a flexible, generally tubular support arm having threadably attached to one end thereof an equipment mounting member, and having threadably attached at the other end thereof a vehicle attachment member. Two alternative attachment members are disclosed. The first alternative attachment member is configured for mounting to a somewhat horizontal portion of the vehicle such as the floor, while the second alternative attachment member is configured for side mounting. The flexible support arm is configured to provide a measure of resistance to flexing sufficient to support the equipment without undesired movement during operation of the vehicle, while being sufficiently flexible to move away from the occupants in the event of impact. The mounting member and attachment member are relatively small in dimension and secure at extreme ends of the flexible portion of the support arm.
Although the Sheppard apparatus provides a high degree of flexibility in the positioning of a car telephone, the device does not address the attachment of a hand-held portable telephone thereto. Rather, the Sheppard apparatus relies upon a manufacturer or user supplied telephone attachment device and is intended for use with a mobile telephone handset, not for use with a hand-held portable telephone. Such attachment devices typically assume a given handset configuration. As such, they do not function with a wide variety of sizes and shapes of telephones.
Thus the Sheppard apparatus and similar prior art devices do not address the problem of providing a rapid and convenient attachment and detachment mechanism for securely holding a hand-held telephone at a desired location within an automobile. As such, although the prior art has recognized to a limited extent the problem of positioning a mobile telephone handset within an automobile, the proposed solutions have to date been ineffective in providing a complete and satisfactory remedy with respect to hand-held portable telephones.
As such, it would be desirable to provide a device for rapidly and conveniently storing a hand-held portable telephone at a desired location and orientation within an automobile. It would also be desirable to provide such a device which is capable of accommodating a wide variety of hand-held portable telephone sizes and configurations.